Happy Holidays!

I am assuming most of you are finished with school for the year of 2010 and are looking forward to all of the festivities the holidays have to offer! Congratulations to a semester completed – what a great feeling! Now it’s time to think about relaxing, sleeping in, eating generous amounts of food, drinking lots of eggnog and warm apple cider, spending time with family and friends, singing Christmas songs (which I am sure you all have been singing since Thanksgiving!), playing in the snow and of course Moondance! This is a great time to ask your parents (or Santa Claus) for the perfect Christmas present – a Moondance Adventures trip.

One trip to keep in mind is our Ecuador/ Galapagos trip which is packed with outdoor adventure, community service and cultural immersion. The beauty and the wildlife of the Galapagos Islands alone is sure to blow you away! You can get a sneak peak at this particular adventure with this YouTube video Theo Moore, our Moondance media genius, put together.

As the Community Service Director of Moondance Adventures, I also would like to share some interesting facts about a service project we do in the small town of Morochos. This particular ecological project also goes hand-in-hand with the blog Genna shared with us about the movie 180 Degrees South (great movie, go see it!) and our efforts to give back to the land.

Morochos is a Kichwa-speaking Indigenous community of about 800 people located at 9,240 feet on the southern face of the Cotacachi Volcano in Imbabura Province.

Since the land reforms of the 1960s (which transferred hacienda lands to communal holdings) Morochos has seen increased strain on its natural environment with a rapid increase in population and the adoption of chemical-based agriculture. The two most pressing sustainability issues for the community are diminishing water resources and soil erosion and fertility degradation: both the results of rampant deforestation in order to open more agricultural land.

Current community projects in Morochos include a reforestation plan designed to conserve and increase water resources, as well as workshops and initiatives promoting sustainable agriculture techniques and food security. The long term goal is to create a sustainable agriculture model for surrounding communities that functions as a "living school."

In addition, the residents of Morochos are independently working on several interesting community development projects including beekeeping and honey production, community organic gardens that provide lunches for the elementary school, and an alpaca project where the animals are raised and sheered and the wool is transformed into value-added products like sweaters.

Moondancers will have an opportunity to participate in an effort that the people of Morochos hold so dearly to their hearts. Learn the true meaning of community when you see the hard work put into the restoration of their land – their history and their future.

Also, during the holiday season, think of a few ways to help out your own community and your own land. This is a perfect time – since you will have so much of it the next two weeks – to volunteer at local food banks and shelters, buy a small gift for a young child or put together a package for the troops. You can check out www.dosomething.org for great volunteer ideas.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend and their upcoming holidays!